


Book 1: Dreams

by Tharhi



Series: Legend of Zelda: World's Decay [1]
Category: Legend of Zelda
Genre: Alternate Universe, Canon bridge, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2012-09-08
Updated: 2015-01-13
Packaged: 2017-11-13 19:30:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 13,454
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/506941
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tharhi/pseuds/Tharhi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Monsters are claiming all lands for their own. They seige the last bastion, Hyrule City. Those locked within survive by making their own dream world. A world before hope was lost. A world where heroes still existed.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Originally, this idea was for NaNoWriMo in '10 and was me trying to decide how one got from OoT to WW. I have a very busy life, and updates will likely be slow. That said, I'm in love with this story and will see it to its completion. 
> 
> I welcome criticism, questions, and discussions.
> 
> A big thanks to Kyna, who has encouraged me for the last two years.

The windmill was old; built of bricks with one of the arms half broken off there was nothing appealing about the building. Few would guess that it was the entrance to the Temple of Dust. Which is likely why it had fallen so low as to be put on the list of temples to clear out. Shaking his head and loosening his limbs, Link figured he may as well get started. Whatever the reasoning, the temple had to be cleared and there was no advantage to waiting.

The doors opened as he approached revealing nothing more broken milling supplies. There was no light beside the rays of sun streaming through the open temple doors, casting long shadows. There was nothing to guard against, no puzzle. Not a single trick to start off the temple. On the watch, but rather unconcerned, Link left the entrance. Immediately, the doors slammed close.

Link could feel a scowl forming. Not usually a problem, but he hadn’t bothered to refill his extra oil bottle before coming. Reaching back for his lantern, he felt his hope sinking at its light weight. He gently sloshed it around anyway and listened carefully. Sounded about a third full of oil. Temples didn’t tend to like leaving players in the dark, so it should last until he found a torch.

It took only a second to light his lantern. The room was as lacking as before. Skirting the edge of the room, he found the access point to the temple; a ladder descending into the dark. His footsteps echoed as he walked over, the ceiling high enough the lantern light didn’t reach it. Leaning over, Link could see nothing dangerous. No obvious monster lurking, but no torch lit with a warm glow either. Shallow enough he could see the ground, meaning no damage configuration. Switching his lantern to his right hand, Link pulled out his sword and stepped up to the edge. Nothing happened. Shrugging, he jumped down.

Upon hitting the floor, no monster jumped him. No monster jumped at him as he explored behind the ladder to find a couple of dusty boxes stacked haphazardly. No monster jumped at him when he stumbled due to tripping over a pebble. No monster jumped at him when he returned to the ladder and stared at the black of the path he had to take. 

Of course, considering the room was large enough that his flickering lantern didn’t reach the wall on either side, let alone in front of him, hypothetically a monster could be lying in wait. Unlikely, yes, but possible.

To his great sadness, no monster jumped at him as he ventured forth into the darkness.

Link had cleared enough temples that design features built to inspire fear or panic barely had him noticing, but it was no reason to be careless. As he headed forward, he walked slowly and held his sword at ready waiting for a trap to trigger or monster to appear. Seven steps in, two torches on either side of the room lit directly behind him.

Link spun sword already starting to swing, expecting a back attack, only to be met with nothing. Frowning, he looked over his shoulder in the direction he had originally been heading, but nothing. No sounds, no sights, only the faintest hint of mustiness. As if the temple had been shut and forgotten about. Extinguishing his lamp, hoping to spare what little oil he had, Link took one of the wall torches. New players, he was aware, were often too hesitant to truly interact with the temples. Even some veteran players he knew didn’t like to move anything about in the temple. Link never understood it. Why waste his own supplies?

Torch in his right hand, Link continued down the hallway. It was strangely long, and it didn’t take but a few steps to notice the walls were slowly closing in on each other. Soon enough, if he were to stretch his arms to either side, Link would be able to touch both walls. Still no sign of monsters, but now he was relieved, fighting in such a narrow hallway would not be easy.

Before Link had cause to truly worry, the hall ended at a door. A fairly weak looking and poorly constructed door. Still, the room beyond it was as dark as the hallway had originally been. Deciding to take no chances, Link kicked the door in, sword on guard and stepping over the threshold even as it clunked against the wall. For a breath, nothing happened. Beginning to relax his stance, Link leapt back as four torches lit at once, far brighter than flame alone could be. 

The room revealed was nothing special. Normal sized, good for a battle against two or three foes, with a door on each wall. Some crates and jars were shoved in the corners of the room. Water was pooling into puddles in a couple places.

Avoiding the first puddle, which seemed strangely deep, Link dropped the torch to unlatch his shield. Settling it into position with the ease of practice, Link went fully armed and armored to kick over the jars and nudge the boxes looking for any spare items. Nothing. He entered the center of the room, which he had been skirting, but still nothing. No additional torches, no puzzles, no activated monsters. It was strange, but not the worst thing he’s come across. When temples went unused for long periods of time monsters had a tendency to congregate, it’s just usually they didn’t like too large of crowds and so spread across the temple. Here, it was likely they were hidden deeper in the temple.

Walking forward, to the door directly across from the one he had entered, he tried the handle of the much sturdier looking door. There was no keyhole, but the door refused to budge. Perhaps a one-way door, a quick exit from the end of the temple then. Unworried, he tried the door to the left of where he entered. It gave easily, and he was three steps inside the room before the torches lit, revealing another empty room. Unlike the one he just exited, there were no other doors, only an opening to a shadowed area. 

Slightly concerned, Link searched about the room. This was the fourth room of the temple, surely he should have come across monsters or a puzzle by now. He headed for the open doorway expecting a trap, but he crossed the room without trouble. Staring into darkness, he doubled back to retrieve a torch off the wall. His new light source revealed a curved wall covered in ivy, leading up to darkness. Link couldn’t see a ceiling. Perhaps this temple was finally starting to pick up.

The floor here was mostly dry, so he dropped his torch on the ground and pulled out his lantern again. Swishing it, then glancing up, Link figured it’d be just his luck to had the light go out as he was climbing. He had been so busy lately he hadn’t made the time to prep his gear as carefully as usual. And had been cocky enough to not bother with restocking for this mission. A mistake. At least his magic reservoir was fine and his spells primed for use. That, at least, he had made time to see to. Scrolling through his list of spells, he selected the simple spell _light_ and cast it to his lantern. Another trick most newbies took forever to figure out. The lantern helped reflect the small light, allowing for less consumption of magic and more light. Attaching the lantern to his belt blocked some of the light, but it allowed him both hands for climbing.

Scaling any wall always impressed townsies, but in reality was very simple. The grate ivy grew on in temples were very sturdy, unlike the lightweight ones used in town. Monsterless as this temple might be, lacking puzzles as it was, the grate proved strong enough for climbing. 

It didn’t take long to scale the wall, but after going up to what should be the ground level outside the temple Link found himself stuck. There was a small wooden platform, but after pulling himself up onto and sitting on it, he looked about in confusion. There was no chest, no further path, no level - not even an eye to shoot. No trick to continue on. Just an empty platform at the top of an empty room. 

This temple was proving rather unsatisfactorily empty. 

Something was definitely wrong. 

Scooting over so that his legs could hang off the edge, Link could faintly make out his flickering torch. Nothing appeared different. Nothing was triggered by his climb here, but perhaps the main room - the one with four doors, was affected? Nothing to it but to check, so Link lowered himself off the platform, allowing himself to hang by his fingers. The drop was no more than what the ladder had been, not far enough for damage to be configured, so he let himself drop. 

Landing was nothing spectacular. No monster attacked while he was retrieving his sword and shield, readying them again. Shrugging, he dismissed the light spell and banished the lantern, shouldered his shield again and picked up his torch. No reason to waste magic and considering the slow response of wall torches so far, he wasn’t going to trust their reliability. 

He left the half circle room that led nowhere for the connected room, taking a moment to search it again. It was the same; still empty. Sighing, he returned to the main room at a faster pace wondering if he was just going to walk through the entire temple with nothing to do at all. He opened the door and paused, hand still resting on the handle. The door across the way, the only door he had yet to try, was now open. Shifting slightly, as if feeling a breeze in this still environment, the door creaked. 

Link carefully set the torch down, not making a noise, and adjusted his shield and readied his sword once more. Perhaps the climb had been a trigger after all. 

Carefully stepping into the room, his survey showed nothing else changed. Avoiding puddles, he approached the open door but could see nothing of the room or corridor beyond it. The torches seemed to dim as he closed in on the door. Finally. Something was happening. 

He crossed the threshold cautiously, sure now something would attack him. As he was turning to glance behind him, he caught glimpse of the spear from the corner of his eye. Jumping to the side, into the wall, he avoided it. It stopped and drew back into the darkness, no torches lighting the way. The monster left nothing to question however, stepping boldly forward as Link scrambled back into the previous room. Dim lights were better than none. 

Link lifted an eyebrow as the light fully revealed the monster - a goblin. The giant pig faced monster snarled as it slowly followed Link into the new room, his leather armor creaking. Link kept pace, making sure to always be beyond reach of the spear. A goblin? A bit big for the low ceiling of an underground temple and out of place. He had never seen one outside of a forest or prison themed temple. 

The goblin charged and Link dodged easily to the side, watching the monster ram right into the wall. Taking advantage, Link attacked the open back of the goblin, cleanly slashing and causing a bellow of pain before jumping back as the goblin spun swinging his spear. Link’s foot hit one of the puddles and slipped out from beneath him, causing him to crash into the wall. 

Definitely not enough room in here for a team of fighters, meaning the goblin was not the monster that was supposed to be attacking. 

Unwilling to waste time, Link regained his footing and went for a head on attack, hitting the spear up enough he could duck beneath it as it came swinging towards him, leaving the goblin wide open for an attack. Link took the opening, plunging his sword into the goblin’s chest. Pulling out, he finished the monster quickly with a slash to the neck. Link jumped back as the goblin exploded into smoke, only to slip again as he landed in another strangely slick puddle. 

Already sitting on the floor, Link checked the water he slipped in twice now. It looked and smelled like water, but to touch it was thicker and slimy. It clung to his fingers, like grease. Curious, he retrieved his torch and set it to a puddle, but the strange liquid did not catch. Pity, he could have filled his oil bottle with it. 

Looking around the room, he noticed the additional puddles. Where before there had only been a couple small ones, now they had grown in size and quantity. Half the floor had to be covered. 

Rather than shouldering his shield, Link left it to dangle on his arm. A bit uncomfortable, but it would allow for a faster response. Considering the goblin, the extra speed might just be required. 

The torch proved useful as he passed through the opened door. No wall torches lit to show the way, and his own torch seemed sadly lacking. Something had to be interfering. The floor, at least, was dry. 

He reached the end of the hallway without another attack, and turned the corner to find the ceiling dipping a bit lower. It appeared almost to be sagging. Luckily, a door was in sight on the left. He headed directly for it and didn’t wait upon reaching it, kicking it down and shoving his torch forward for light. For once, the room had something inside. 

Giant boxes. 

The room was filled with giant boxes. Walking the perimeter, Link found a barred door on the wall opposite his entrance. The boxes filling the center of the room were lined up four by four for a possibility of sixteen boxes. Deciding to check it out, for what else was he to do, Link gently threw his torch, still his only source of light, atop the nearest box. In the shadowed darkness he ran up the side of the box and caught the edge with his fingertips, hauling himself up. The ceiling was low enough not to allow him to stand, rather he proceeded with a crouching walk. He kept his head low enough to prevent it from scraping against the grime on the ceiling. Picking up his torch, he crawled about to see what he had to work with. 

There were three boxes missing, the spots where two of them would have stood were giant switches. Nothing terribly difficult. Why bother? The puzzle seemed more a waste of time than test of skill. Likely, as was the rest of this temple, it was broken. 

Leaving the torch at the top of the block, Link jumped down to pull a box over one of the switches. Hopefully it wasn’t time or order dependent because he wasn’t sure how many switches there were. Yanking at the block, he frowned when it didn’t shift. Considering there were three handles provided on each side of the box, it was unsurprising one man couldn’t move it, but it would have been nice if he could have. A bit annoying, but easy enough. Looking over his spell list, he selected _strength_ and put only a trickle of magic in. Strength enough for two men and rarely did a box need more. 

Pulling, once more the box failed to shift. Frowning, Link increased the strength of his spell, pouring in enough magic to bring it to its second level but still the box didn’t shift. Not cool. Taking a slow breath, Link gathered his magic and poured it into the spell, maxing it. Yanking once more, the box begin to move into place. Despite its movement, Link had to truly struggle to get it even halfway. Jumping up, he dropped back on the other side of the block to push it fully into place. 

Once the box was correctly positioned, Link released the draining, fully powered _strength_ spell. He felt strangely exhausted, the spell hadn’t been in place long enough to tire him so thoroughly. Something in the room must be affecting how magic worked, similar to how something was dimming the torches. Perhaps to add to the difficulty of the task? Considering the lack of anything else in this temple that might be it. 

In an attempt to cover the last switch, he uncovered two more. Three boxes later he was sitting in the shadowed alcove, back against the block and panting, sweat dripping down the side of his face. Okay, maybe not broken, just annoying. Had he gotten lucky in his pick? He was starting to believe the entire floor was switches and it lacked only three - one for each missing boxes. But what would be the purpose, no one would stay in this temple if they had to deal with this. 

The release on the barred door reminded him of his purpose. Despite being so late, at least it opened and progress was being made. Taking a slow breath, calming his heart and restoring a sense of balance, Link climbed the boxes one last time to grab his torch. It had been left sitting safely above to provide what light it could while he had been busy moving boxes. He moved until he could jump down directly before the recently unbarred door, but stumbled the landing due to his exhaustion. A quick check of his magic revealed its low levels, all but an impossibility for him. His magic now matched most of his gear, practically empty. 

Stepping forward, he opened the door and looked around the new room. It was empty but for a chest, sitting in the direct middle. Unfortunately, the chest fit the theme of the temple, it was laying open and empty. It was a fairly large chest, implying something of importance had laid there at one point in time. This was a situation he had never come across in a temple before. 

The report for this temple would prove rather long. He was usually only sent for over-spawning of monsters, not for temple bugs. Typically temple bugs caused the temple to be shut down, not left open for players to stumble across. There was nothing to do but continue on and see what else might be working or not in this temple. It’d have to be shut down, but perhaps whoever had to do the repairs would appreciate the thorough report. Especially considering the error report that originally sent him to clear this temple appeared wrong, lacking even a hint to the problems in this temple. 

Exiting back to the hallway, Link continued on. He kept an eye out for anything strange, but the hallway was as bland as the first room had been. It continued on for a ways, before ending and leaving only a second door on the left. He opened it slowly, too tired to slam it open and draw attention of all who might be in the room. Before even entering, he could tell it was different. There was the loud rumble of a large collection of people: metal clanging, voices mumbling, enraged calls. Edging inside, there was no direct light, but the far wall proved to be a balcony instead. Light from underneath it - whatever it was overlooking, gave off a dim glow. 

Leaving the torch near the door, Link quietly crossed the room and got down on his belly to inch to the very edge of the balcony. Staring through the pillar supports for the railing, his eyes widened at the sight. 

Whatever purpose the room below originally had was lost, filled instead to the brim with monsters. In the one room alone there had to be eighty, if not a hundred. The monsters stood on top of each other, one, as Link watched, grew offended and battled another. There was barely room enough to swing their weapons. When one was killed, disappearing in smoke, the smoke cleared to show a new monster had spawned in its place. 

More than that, the monsters had destroyed the walls, leaving gaping holes into the rooms beyond it. Rubble was everywhere and the monsters spilled between rooms, each as packed as the one next to it. Keese hung from the tops of broken walls, a couple taking flight when brushed against and screeching. Goblins were spread lightly throughout, grunting and muffing as they swung their spears for walking room. Stalfos, Lizardos, Dinolfos - all were in great numbers trying to walk around, almost as if they couldn’t see the other monsters blocking their way. 

Making the decision to back away - with no gear or magic it was an impossible fight, Link started to wiggle back. 

For what happened next, there was no warning. The ledge he was hiding upon simply gave up the fight. With nary a noise, the ground beneath him crumbled sending Link toppling into the middle of the room below. With his sword beneath the rubble and struggling to free himself, his death was quick. 

_**A gasp smells wrong it’s all wrong smoke and burnt flesh and dim it’s so dim oh and his eyes they hurt they hurt and hurt and he can’t breath his chest something is wrong with no his arm can’t move green soft pulsing green like the mouth of a river across the sky and why does it HURT dizziness but he’s laying he hasn’t moved and what is below him why is it so hard so soft and his head and it’s toxic his noise can’t handle it and there’s something in his muscles there’s something there what what what HURTS and the noise where has it gone wood it’s wood and it’s unlike anything why HUR-** _

Link bolted upright, hand reflectively against his chest, “What… what was that?” 


	2. Chapter 2

Link took his time getting ready, dressing and double checking all his gear. His sword, lost beneath the debris of the temple, was back safe in its sheath. His lantern was problematic as it appeared to have a crack running along the glass. It was a first, he’d never had any equipment break on him before.

He was thorough in checking everything a second time after that discovery but it failed to keep his mind off the real problem - something had gone wrong with his reboot. As the most highly advanced AI he had over the years run into quite a few errors in how programming reacted to him. Smaller things, inconsequential things. But his rebooting? Not a minor issue there.

Rebooting was different between AIs and players. For players, who logged on and off every day, they had no choice and were stuck with the default of utilizing the bed. A process that none of them complained about because, as a friend of Link’s clarified, to access the game they had to be laying down and connected through their bed at home. AIs were allowed to pick their reboot option, rare as it might be for them to have to use it. Most AIs stayed away from danger, too busy learning the system and fixing errors or playing nanny to players. Link was a little unique in his role, and so he had chosen to reboot at the entrance of wherever he died, fully dressed and geared up to match his “pre-death” state. It allowed him to get back to action without pause, something he knew many players were jealous of.

It had never failed him before. 

Trying to shake the strange feeling, unwilling and unsure if it could be called fear, Link finally left the Great Deku Tree. While a great sanctuary and home base, players weren’t allowed in and he needed to restock his items. Once his items were replenished, he’d check if there was anything on his notice list for jobs.

Link wandered down the path from the Great Deku Tree to the very center of the city. The main market of Hyrule City was located behind the Temple a ways, easily reachable from the city’s center.

Hyrule City was built around three primary sites - the Great Deku Tree, Hyrule Castle, and the Temple. The three were set in a wide grassy expanse, creating peace inside the chaotic and lively city as well as acting as landmarks to guide the lost. The Great Deku Tree was the tallest, enveloping the entire city under his branches and providing shade. While not as tall, Hyrule Castle was open to the public. It acted not only as the seat of power, but as a museum of Hyrulian history. Last, completing the triangle, was the Temple. While gorgeous and awe-inspiring, it was rarely visited by players. It stood representing a faith long abandoned by Hyrulians.

He knew most players would rather teleport to the entrance of the market, intimidated by the Temple, but Link never understood that. It was a beautiful sight, and he felt a longing inside him every time he saw it. A wish that he wasn’t just an AI, a wish he could worship in its halls.

Silly, but true. Probably one of his best kept secrets.

No matter his hurry, he strolled by the Temple. Today, like most other days, no one was in sight as he passed. He was free to take in the stained glass windows, the Goddesses standing guard over the entrance, the feeling of peace. As always, he chose the left pathway to skirt the Temple, eyes following the lines of the mural covering the side of the temple. It showcased the only bit of history the Castle ignored - how the game came to be. To be honest, most of it made no sense to Link, a wave of Hyrulians running in fear with monsters in the distance, a ranch of no distinction, the Royal Family’s ancestors and a circle of mages, a city hidden behind a shining barrier. Despite this, Link loved it. In a way, he viewed it to be the story of his creation.

Yet no matter how he dragged his feet, soon enough he was past and traveling the streets of the city. The housing closest to the central city was most expensive, and the section Link was walking through was typically reserved for the best of merchants. There wasn’t much housing, just enough to muffle the noise from the marketplace to preserve the peace of the central greenery. It didn’t take long to travel through and then Link was walking between stalls, dodging people and ignoring merchants screaming for attention of their wares.

The shop he was heading to had its own building, well-enough off to be able to afford a permanent space in a rather good location. He was old friends with the owner, a Hylian townie. Darin had started out on the gaming side, hitting the temples with his twin brother but it hadn’t taken long before he was pushing his brother on and staying behind in town, haggling over items. He had started with a small stall on the outskirts of town selling off treasures his brother found and before long worked his way into his own Curiosity Shop.

Spotting the sign Link grinned. It wasn’t known for gaming gear, but Darin kept a private stock for the Adventurer’s Guild after his brother had joined their ranks. The Adventurer’s Guild was dedicated to gaming and hitting the temples, by far the best of the best amongst players. Link was considered an honorary member, considering as an AI he couldn’t truly join their ranks.

Fighting through the crowd Link made it through the open doorway, lessoning the noise. It was a relief. The Temple of Dust he ran through this morning left him unbalanced and as peaceful as his walk by the temple had been, walking through the market was its own kind of battle. Besides, he had been so busy with work in the past couple weeks he hadn’t been able to talk to any of his friends. He’d been called to so many temples he’d even skipped coming to see Darin, keeping to the smaller villages where it was faster to get to the supply shops and back out.

Darin glanced up from dealing with a customer and waved. Link waved back, then turned and pursued the shelves. He wasn’t in a hurry. Darin could finish up before talking to Link. Glancing back over his shoulder Link smiled. It had to be someone new or at least uncommon to the shop. Darin was as helpful as ever, playing the good shopkeeper, but he didn’t have the same energy or light chatter going that he had with friends and dedicated customers. It always amused Link to see Darin trying to figure out new customers, the conversation was peppered with random questions about the customer’s life, trying to figure out what would fit them best.

Darin glanced over again and then started shooing the customer out politely. Closing the door with promises of deliveries, he flipped the sign to Closed and locked the door, turning and smiling, “My good man! It’s been far too long, at least two months now if I’m not wrong.”

“Duty calls,” Link answered with a small shrug, accepting Darin’s hug as the older man reached him. At times, Darin and his brother felt like uncles to Link, a feeling he never shared with them. “It’s been a couple busy months. I’ve been meaning to stop in for awhile now but…” he trailed off, the answer clear enough without stating it. It simply was how it was, “Anything new in to identify?”

Darin might focus on selling the unique treasures the Adventuring Guild or Elites, another guild focusing on tackling the temples, brought back to the townies, but in his spare time he enjoyed and held a license to identify unknown objects. Something not all together strange with his set up, he just did it more successfully than other, less popular, curiosity shops Link had been to.

“There was this strange box about three weeks ago now,” Darin said. “We had high hopes for it, but turned out it was just a practice box dropped by a mage fifty or so years back in the temple. The Elites who brought it to me just had the lucky chance of it showing up in their loot.” He raised an eyebrow, exchanging a humor filled look with Link, then headed through the back door to reveal the small counter containing weapons and supplies, “So, what do you need a refill on? You’re looking a little scraggly there.”

Link followed, glancing over the displayed items, “Honestly? Everything. It’s been too long since I restocked. This morning I somehow even managed to crack my lantern.” He summoned his lantern, showing off the thin cracks that looked much like a spider web would.

Darin whistled low, looking up from where he had started to bundle arrows together. As Link was allowed a higher than normal arrow count, Darin bundled them special and preferred to double check every arrow personally to ensure it was perfect. “Let me see that,” Link handed it over without argument, watching as Darin held the lantern up to the light and turned it this way or that. “I’ve never heard of the lantern cracking before. How’d it happen?”

“Would you believe me if I said I wasn’t sure?” Link tried, but sighed when Darin just looked at him, having finally set the lantern down on the counter. He went to explain when his inbox dinged, a soft tonal noise signaling priority mail. Immediately he focused inward, pulling up his menu and selecting the new message, eyebrows raising as he noted the sender - the Royal Princess Zelda.

Princess Zelda wasn’t very well known, regulated to the role of second-born and responsible for actions in the real world. Prince Daphnes, first born and nearing his twenty-seventh year, was heir and responsible for the politics of the people. Meaning, in this day and age, that he was constantly in the game and listened to their desires on new updates rather than direct and head armies. His mother, current Queen, was due to gracefully step down after reigning for forty years. The people were excited for the change, despite the fact that very little would, in fact, change.

Clicking into the letter, he was unsurprised at the formal language. The message, on the other hand, was a shock. Closing out and returning to the ‘present’ he found Darin watching him closely, looking concerned.

“Everything all right Link?” Darin asked, “Another temple to clear?” The worry in his voice was clear, though he was doing an impressive job of keeping his face smooth and relaxed.

Link shook his head, taking a moment to piece together the words through his surprise, “I’ve been summoned,” then putting special emphasis, “by Princess Zelda.”

“Zelda?” Darin questioned, looking impressed with the concern leaking in through the wrinkles in the corner of his eye, “I didn’t know she entered the game. I wonder if it’s the first time?” 

“The real question,” Link said, “is what she wanted with me. I’m just an AI responsible for clearing temples.”

Darin caught on quickly, refocusing on the more serious matter, “And what does the Second-Born want with someone who she should never have need to contact?”

Link said nothing, a sense of urgency overtaking him. “I won’t know till I go.” He turned towards the door but hesitated, looking back at Darin, “I don’t know how long I’ll be…”

“Don’t worry,” Darin reassured, “I’m just as curious as you are, I’ll be staying here till you get back.” He gestured towards the arrows and supplies, “Besides, you still need your gear.”

“Thanks,” Link said, then exited. As soon as the door shut he bypassed the system and transferred to the Castle entrance. Typically, one was only allowed to teleport to and from entrances of cities and markets. As AI Link could bypass that, but it was rare he did. This situation warranted it.

Arriving at the entrance, Link was forced to banish his sword, habitually kept on his back with his shield. No weapons were allowed summoned in the castle, a leftover practice from the real world that could be enforced through coding. 

Checking his map showed Zelda as a faintly glowing green dot, present as the letter promised to guide him to her. Incredibly helpful considering he had never been in the castle before and wouldn’t have recognized any directions or locations. The dot appeared to be towards the back of the castle, so he took off at a slow trot. 

The castle was a grand affair. Tall ceilings, wide halls, portraits of previous Kings and Queens, marbled floors cleaned to a sparkle, the occasional display of traditional weapons hanging on the walls. Link didn’t truly take in the sights, the map overlaid his vision and he focused on it, ensuring he took the correct turns as needed to arrive as swiftly as possible before the Royal Princess. As he neared the dot, it became clear she wasn’t actually inside the castle. Turning through one of the tall, wide doors, Link found himself in an outside garden. The assorted trees, bushes, and flowers carefully trimmed amongst the columns and half walls created an isolated world.

The encouraged growth and height of the plants allowed Zelda to remain invisible until the third turn in the path. As her form was revealed, perfectly matching the position on the overlaid map, Link immediately dropped to one knee, bowing his head, “Your Highness.”

“Please, sit beside me,” Princess Zelda asked, her voice strong but with a musical undertone to it. Here was someone trained to talk and give speeches. “There is something rather serious we must discuss.”

Link nodded, and stood. Following orders came easily to him, coded within his nature, and he carefully sat on the stone bench beside her. Beyond that though, it was an awkward situation for him. He was an AI, nothing but an artificial intelligence sitting beside the one person who was perhaps the furthest removed from the game. “Princess Zelda. I was unsure what help I could be to you when I received your summons.”

For a second, nothing was said. Zelda was examining him, considering while he stared off slightly to the side of her face. “I must be honest,” She finally spoke, speaking slowly as if each word was a test, “I know you are a prototype AI, but I am unaware of your own self awareness and knowledge of things beyond your task. For instance, are you aware of my role as Second-born?”

“Only vaguely, Princess. You are the protecter of the shield and I thought you never entered the Game. I never had need to know more.” Link replied, wondering if it was the wrong answer and if he would be dismissed now.

“And of your own self awareness and knowledge?” Zelda asked, pushing. Face as serene and unyielding as when he first spotted her.

Link cocked his head slightly, narrowing and unsure of how to answer, “It is a difficult assessment. Many players have been startled at my apparent realness. I have yet to notice a shortcoming in my own interactions, but I do not know if I would. As for my knowledge, despite my task being only that of clearing temples, I have found myself to have a great curiosity and many friends willing to indulge me. In game, I dare say my knowledge is near unchallenged. For your real world, I have only the vaguest descriptions.”

“Then perhaps you shall be useful,” Zelda said, “As guardian of the shield I am also guardian of the game and many more tasks that doubtless you do not have the capacity to understand.” Link was sure he didn’t show it, but her words hurt. They hurt as deeply as her easy dismissal of the product of years of soul searching. She didn’t pause, “My reason for meeting you is that temple bugs are increasing yet nothing I look at can explain why.”

His hurt feelings were pushed aside as he realized he might actually have something to say here. Something must have changed in his expression, for Zelda lifted a single eyebrow and waited. “Ah, Princess Zelda. Just this morning I cleared a temple so badly corrupted I could barely enter it. The damage was on a level I have never seen or heard of before. Worse,” he hesitated, wondering if this was something she would care to hear, than pushed through it, “is that when I was killed within the temple, something interfered with my reboot.”

“This is what I was afraid of,” Zelda murmured to herself, looking off into the distance as she dealt with her own interface, making notes if Link had to guess. He sat in awkward silence, wondering if she still needed him or forgot he was there. Abruptly, she looked directly at him, “As the AI with the most interaction with the temples, is there anything else you noticed that seemed strange? Anything unusual or different from usual?”

“Well, for the past couple temples I have noticed the bug reports do not match to the actual errors in the temple, but it typically wasn’t very off. I am usually only called in for clearing monsters when too many have built up but I’ve started to notice small bugs such as unbreakable jars or chests that won’t open.” Link struggled thinking over his past couple missions, but didn’t know what Zelda wanted to hear. Trying to give her what she wanted he offered up a potential reason, “Last year an unannounced system update went through. Perhaps there was an error in coding?”

“Hmm,” was Zelda’s response, the far distanced look in her eyes again. Link fidgeted, but the look didn’t last as long before her eyes refocused on him, “Thank you. If the situation changes or I require more information, I shall call upon you. You are dismissed.”

Link stood then bowed, uncertain of how to deal with the situation. As he made his way to the exit he couldn’t help but feel he failed to measure up.

He didn’t wait to leave the castle before transferring, he just ensured he was out of sight. And rather than transfer to the market entrance, he overrode the system and landed himself in Darin’s shop, startling the man.

“Link! That was fast. And a rather unexpected entrance back here,” Darin asked, worry in his voice.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to be rude,” Link murmured, enjoying being in the presence of someone who would often forget and treat him as real despite knowing better. Zelda had been terrifying and a force onto herself for all she had appeared so gentle sitting there.

“Are you going to keep me in suspense, why did the Princess summon you?” Darin asked, then waved him over, “And get over here, you didn’t give me much time but I think I got everything gathered that you need. Check it over.”

“It would appear she simply wanted a direct report on problems in the temples-“ and immediately cut himself off as the soft tonal noise rang again. Even as he went to check, a part of him wondered if Zelda remembered a question she had forgotten to ask. 

Only to abandon the silly thought upon actually reading the letter, “Shit. Gamers are stuck in a temple and can’t leave, I have to go now.” Already he was working up the codes needed to transfer directly there and barely registered it when Darin started shoving things at him.

“So busy tonight?” The joking words were belied by the serious tone and gritted teeth, by the hands shoving items at him, “Come on, come on, I know you’re already half there but take these, you’re going to nee-“

Link transferred.


	3. Chapter 3

Upon arrival at the second temple within the Gerudo Temple Set, Link immediately checked his inventory. Darin was an excellent man and Link was thankful for his quick thinking. As long as he had his sword, Link could make a temple work. Having the right tools, or weapons, for the job would greatly improve the difficulty of the task however. Besides, he had some pride over earning all his weapons and not just overriding the requirements to use them.

Darin had succeeded in handing him seven arrows, three bombs, and a single potion. Better than nothing, but woefully short of a full inventory. There was nothing to it but to go forward. Death for players was rather traumatic, Link knew serious gamers who quit the temple aspect after one too many deaths. And the bugs cited in the gamer’s cry for help were serious enough that they didn’t have the time for Link to finish replenishing his inventory.

The temple itself was new to Link. Two stories high, round. It was situated in the middle of the desert. Rumors stated it was fight heavy. Meaning it was likely a coliseum or similar. Like all racial temple sets, the first two temples were open to all players while the last was restricted to the temple race. Unsurprisingly, even during slow periods the racial temple sets remained popular, so they were some of the few temples Link never had reason to run through. It was a shame he wouldn’t be able to take the time needed to appreciate it. Inventory check finished, he pulled up the code for the temple, filtered for the distressed players specific temple run, and unlocked the Temple Map. Inputting the character codes for the two players he was sent to rescue, he waited the three seconds required for their signals to appear on the map.

Multiple player groups were currently running the temple, each temple run isolated. Link spared a second to ensure there were no additional problems, then keyed in to open the door bypassing the requirement to complete the first Gerudo temple. A soft sigh escaped, it would have been fun to do a run alone so as to experience the temple as it was meant to be enjoyed. 

Stepping through the doors transported him to a dim hallway with obvious signs of player activity - two lit torches, shattered jars in corners, and a distinct lack of keese or other first room monsters. Instead of moving forward, Link turned back and tried the door. As the note requesting help had stated, the door refused to open. 

He took a minute to try and play with the code, hoping it was nothing more than a simple glitch with a quick fix. Doubtful, if that was it than he never would have received the request for help, but it never hurt to check. Link’s eyes widened as the code displayed before him. It was a mess, corrupted through and through and looking nothing like it had when he checked it from the outside. Whatever happened was isolated to this specific run. Even if he could fix it, it would likely take hours to do. Skimming, eyes searching for patterns of recognizable code, he relaxed slightly when the failsafe of clearing the temple to leave was still intact.

Turning back, Link went to the only door out. Even with the map, he couldn’t be sure of what was on the other side of the door, but he was confident he could handle it. Especially as with his specialized entrance, the temple would not view him as a player and would not activate traps or monsters from his presence. Of course, there was the chance the two players had not fully cleared whatever room they traveled through, but rumor had it that Gerudo temples required destruction of all monsters to unlock and move forward in temples.

Opening the door, a vast circular sandpit open to the sky was revealed. Before stepping out, he double checked the temple summary. No weapon or tool requirements to enter, meaning that the sand was not quicksand or some other trick designed to interact only with a unique tool gained by a prerequisite temple. 

A cautious step out reinforced that conclusion, the sand actually rather easy to walk on. An added difficultly to consider while fighting, but safe enough if you were aware of the dangers. There was also no lurking monsters, meaning the players had fully cleared the room. The first floor was walled off with four doors, not including the entrance he just walked through. Three of the doors appeared open, the fourth, furtherest to the left, was locked shut with chains.

Double checking the map, Link took off for the third door. Upon reaching it, he carefully opened the door. According to the map, this room doubled back on itself, with a long solid wall separating the two halves of the room. The two glowing dots representing the players were gathered together as if hiding behind the edge of the wall. Hopefully meaning the room was half cleared.

The door opened silently, and he slipped in quickly shutting the door just was quietly as he took in the room. It curved slightly, both walls following the curve of the sandpit outside. The center wall was tall, but left a small gap rather than connect to the ceiling and Link could hear the monsters stomping and shuffling on the other side of it. There wasn’t much to block the view and Link easily narrowed in on the two players at the far end, carefully peering around the wall to see what awaited them.

Silently, Link approached, amused that they couldn’t tell he was there. Standing just a couple feet behind them, he carefully examined the two players who had requested help. A Hylian, obviously a fighter by his gear and wounds, was sitting with his side against the wall, head only a foot off the floor as he peered around the corner. His sword was bared and resting across his lap, sweat dripping down his face and arms. While difficult to tell because of his leather armor, Link would bet the Hylian’s back and chest were soaked as well. His leg was mangled and there was blood from countless cuts on his arms as well as a nasty one to his cheek. If he didn’t get careful healng, his character might sport a scar for awhile, unless, of course, he payed to have the scar removed.

Standing protectively above him was a Goron. He held no weapons, but then Gorons rarely needed weapons. There was nothing physical to reveal his chosen path, but Link could feel the magic rolling off him. The Goron was likely an offensive mage of some kind, fire perhaps? If he was anything of a healer he’d have already dealt with the wounds of his friend.

“I promise, after we get out of here I’ll run through the healing temple,” the Goron whispered, his voice surprisingly soft but extremely deep. “Has any of your magic recovered?”

“Heh,” the Hylian started, breathless. There was no true pain in the game, but no one liked the feelings of wounds and he was obviously exhausted. “You won’t be the only one running through that temple Duran. Such a simple healing spell shouldn’t have drained me so badly. Never expected we’d be in this situation, did we?” He attempted a laugh but lacked the energy, his body just crumpling a little further.

With hearing the first name, Link was able to apply the second name from the help request to the Hylian - Simon. Observation and assessment complete, Link was ready to intervene, especially as he could help. Running through his own magic menu, he selected a healing spell from his list of battle magic. Spell readied, he pulled out the sole healing potion Darin had pushed on him and cast the spell.

Duran, the Goron, felt the magic, and twirled fist ready. Link darted back holding up the potion, “Sorry, sorry. I just arrived and figured I’d start with the help. The spell was battle healing - it won’t last forever but should bolster you for a couple hours, long enough to get you to a real healer. The potion should give it enough kick to take care of your leg for you and give you back some energy.”

Simon quirked his lips, “We weren’t expecting you to be so fast. I’m Simon and my big friend here is Duran. Now, hand that over,” His arm wavered as he reached out for the potion and Link easily handed it over, “Link, right? Didn’t think we rated that high.”

Link nodded, noticing that Duran seemed to settle a little with Simon’s ease and trust. Link made note of it, it was unusual for Gorons to be so untrusting. Nothing to report or be concerned over, but one of the few hobbies outside of his programmed responsibilities was examining those the system appeared to misplace. It was a rather unsurprisingly low number.

As Simon downed the potion and handed back the glass bottle, Duran came around to sit beside Simon with his back against the wall. He looked to Link, who went down to one knee beside them, “Well then, I suppose you’d like to know what’s up?”

Link subtly assessed Simon as he responded, trying to gauge how long till the healing potion would take effect, “The original request stated only problematic bugs and the temple not allowing you to leave.” Both the Hylian and Goron had puzzled faces and Link explained further, “Despite sounding rather tame, it was coded as immediate danger and potential death.”

Duran gave a short nod, face clearing, “Alright I guess. I’m sure Simon here would agree with that coding. Well, as for what happened, first you have to know that me and Simon, we went through training together and just stuck. We might not be Elite but we’re more than able to handle ourselves. We’ve gotten a lot of shit over the years, interracial friends and all that, but we do train pretty hard.

“This isn’t the first time we’ve run this temple,” Duran continued, glancing over his shoulder briefly at the edge of the wall, “It hard, but we’ve been successful. We’ve just never gotten the completion notice. We poked our noses in some of the guilds and discovered there was some kind of timed event. Switches.” A glance over at Simon had him take on the storytelling.

“We entered and everything seemed fairly normal. The monsters in the entrance were as we remembered. When we entered and activated the monsters in the sandpit we thought maybe this temple raised difficulty with additional run throughs but at that point it was all within our skill level and so continued on.” Simon shook his head slowly, arm coming up to wipe off some of the sweat, “The monster level escalated so quickly though. It’s not as though the monsters don’t belong, they’re the same ones as before, but the amount seems to have doubled and their stats? The hit that did this,” he gestured to his leg, ”to my leg should not have been within the monsters strength bracket at all. And their AI, it’s almost as if they were on par with us.”

A monster shuffling got louder and the two players went silent, attention on the end of the wall. The monster snuffled, as if scenting the air, but began shuffling further away. Link inspected Simon, the potion had started working but still needed time. At least five more minutes.

Duran’s attention returned to the conversation first. “There’s three over there. We can take them, it’s just a monster on this side surprised us. We were already exhausted after the second sandpit battle. We figured to keep going until serious injury and came in here. AI levels were definitely a couple levels too high for the monster and it got in that hit on Simon before we bested it. With Simon’s wounds we figured it was time to hightail it as neither of us are what you’d call proficient healers and we’d already used our healing supplies. You should have seen Simon before he cast his wimpy spell though…” Duran trailed off, sounding guilty.

Simon slugged Duran in the arm, probably more painful for him with Duran’s rock skin but enough to catch attention. “You know it’s not real pain, just an uncomfortable buzz. It’s both our faults for being so overconfident.”

Duran had a solemn look, “Perhaps.” It was clear he was still taking most of the blame onto himself. Turning back to Link, “We tried to leave at that point but couldn’t. We made a gamble about the pit not respawning monsters and ran back here, thinking the best plan was to finish off the temple. We got lucky in beating the respawn and sent in the report. Hence here we are.”

“You mentioned the switch requirement,” Link asked, trying to figure if it was something the players themselves unintentionally activated. “Was this referring to completing the temple fast enough or physical switches?”

“Physical switch. Though honestly, we were too busy fighting the more difficult monsters to find any of them.” Simon explained. He had more energy, looking more alert. Meaning the potion been in his system long enough to start taking effect and they’d be able to move soon.

“Alright. Thank you. Your information will be utilized in the future prevention of this default.” It was a stock response, but it needed to be stated. To ease the statement a little, Link added a little playfully, “For future notice, around thirty years ago the Royals decreed that any request for help to prevent unnecessary deaths of a player must be answered with all swiftness. It was, if you check, shortly followed by an increase from three hours requirement to four hours required duty in the real world.”

Simon and Duran took the news as expected, muffling chuckles with hands to prevent the monsters from noticing. Simon glanced at the wall again before smiling at Link, “Well, that’s good news to hear. We probably could have gotten out without death, but it’d have been incredibly slow and painful. Maybe. Maybe we would have made it.”

“You ready?” Link asked them both, standing and drawing his sword.

Simon tested his limbs, the conversation lasting long enough to repair his leg, “Seems like it.” Carefully, he shifting from sitting to crouched to peek around the corner once more. Turning back, he nodded, “Ready. These three don’t seem as smart as the one that struck me, but that likely means their strength was boosted instead.”

“I’ll go first then,” Link murmured, he was there to save them after all. He liked playing the white knight and besides, Simon might be able to stand but he wasn’t fully recovered yet. “You two can back me up.” At their nods, he inched forward, slowly gaining more and more of what was happening behind the wall. 

He waited patiently for the patrolling monster, a dinolfos, to approach and then turn away, so that his back was facing them. Link leapt onto the monsters back, stabbing his sword down into the dinolfos’ neck and using his own weight to force it through. It was an instant kill move, no matter the level or skill of the monster and proved such once more. The monster managed a wheeze before puffing into smoke.

The wheeze was enough to grab the attention of the two other dinolfoses, or perhaps it was the thumping noise of Link landing after the monster smoked. Either way, Link didn’t wait for them to react, darting forward he swung at the first. Blood splattered, but the monster didn’t seem bothered forcing Link to jump back and gain some distance as the monster attacked in turn. The further back of the two monsters started charging forward and Link tried to maneuver to get the current monster to block it, but strangely, the monster turned his head and stepped out of the way. Link pulled up his shield to absorb the damage and grunted. So it seemed Simon and Duran were accurate in saying they at least had an upgrade over what dinolfos’ intelligence was supposed to be.

The second dinolfos stumbled back leaving room for the first to move in. Link heard chanting in the background and then the first monster, about to attack, erupted into flames and Simon was shouting at him, “Link back! Those flames will spread! They don’t distinguish between friend and foe!”

Instead of verbally replying, Link obeyed. If those flames lasted long enough, he could probably knock the second monster into the first. Luckily, the monster was providing just that chance as it once more charged him. Link steadied and grounded himself, holding the shield carefully. He would need to time the shield bash just right, and the monster ran up according to plan, giving Link the chance to shove him back. Unfortunately, the shove didn’t get him far enough, but Simon darted past before Link could act and quickly shoved the dinolfos once more, his momentum giving the necessary force to throw the two monsters together. As fast as he had darted in, Simon was back again, panting beside Link and watching carefully.

“That’s one of Duran’s highest spells. The way these monsters have been, I don’t know that it’ll kill them, but it should definitely make this easier,” Simon said, breath calming. “It shouldn’t even take him long to recover from it either. The only downside is the prep time it takes to cast. Which, with the level of these monsters, we haven’t been able to get him.”

Link gave a quick glance over his shoulder to look at Duran, who had rolled into the ball Gorons were known for, “Looks like it also takes him out of the fight till he recovers.”

“Yeah, but it won’t be for too long,” Simon grinned, “He’s quite the mage. But watch out, seems like it’s wearing off.”

Indeed, the flames seemed to lose their vitality, dimming a bit and not as furious. They began to flicker and the monsters seemed to regain their minds and together, the two monsters began stalking towards Link and Simon as the flames completely disappeared.

“I’ll take the lead, try to stay out of reach,” Link said, before charging the monsters once more. His quick action preventing him from seeing or hearing if Simon agreed, so he could only hope. He used his momentum to add extra weight to his attacks, instead of being unbalanced simply switching targets and bouncing between the two monsters. His shield was almost forgotten, kept close to his body as he attacked without giving either dinoflos a chance to counterattack.

It went well for the first couple minutes, his fast attacks keeping the monsters unbalanced but unable to truly deal anything damaging. On the back swing from hitting one of the dinolfos, he saw an opening to finish him off. In seconds he was brushing aside a sword and flipping over the monster’s head, as he landed digging the sword into its back. The monster let out a death cry as it fell before puffing into smoke. As the smoke cleared, the other monster cried out and Link lowered his sword to see Simon standing before another cloud of smoke.

Duran walked over, checking the two, “That was not terribly bad, despite the extra health those monsters must have had.”

Link nodded, “True. This seems like a bad moment to bring it up, but you are aware that this run through the temple will have to be erased from the records?”

“Yeah,” Simon started as he joined them, “kinda sucks though. It’s not often one fights at the side of the Great AI Link. I bet even the Elites will be jealous - if they believed us.”

Link laughed, pleased despite himself. Pulling up the map, Link checked their status within the temple before closing it all and gesturing toward the door, “If you’re ready?”

“After you,” Duran granted.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One would imagine I could do this a little faster. I apologize to the occasional person who stops in to read this. I am still working on it... just very slowly.

Eyes wary and feeling the beginning of exhaustion, Link turned to check on Simon. It’d been slow going for the past few hours in this fighting heavy temple. The smaller rooms Link had been able to mostly take care of himself, but the battle sands left no place to hide and Simon had no choice but to fight. The final melee in the battle sands had been difficult, but both Hylian and Goron still lived - a rather impressive feat.

“That should have been the last of it, should we go check the door?” Duran asked, acting as a brace for Simon who had begun limping again. The once strong magic presence from the Goron was nearly nonexistent, drained from the constant battles.

Link held up a hand in signal to wait, “There should be something to signify-“ 

A loud screech was his only warning, but it was enough. His shield was up and ready, just in time to be hit by a giant vulture like bird. The force was enough to throw Link off his feet and slam him to the ground. The bird scrambled on top of him and Link struggled to get out from underneath, difficult with both arms caught beneath his shield and attempting to keep it between his face and the monster.

Duran came to his rescue, big enough to physically pick up the bird. He held it above his head, seemingly uncaring of its struggles and turned to look at Simon, who gave a brief nod. As Link regained his feet, Duran threw the bird into the wall and Simon was on top of it, stabbing repeatedly with his sword, which was lighter than Link’s own. To Link’s experienced eye, it took more stabs than it should have to finally kill the monster.

As the monster burst into smoke, the sound signifying the unlocking of a door echoed and Link chucked, “Like I said, there should be something to signify the temple’s last monster was killed.”

Simon tried to smile, but grimaced and collapsed against the wall. “Just in time too, think I’m done.”

“Let’s get a move on then,” Duran grumbled. Harsh words, but the concern was clear in them. He offered an arm for support, wrapping it around Simon’s waist and using his height to lift and carry the Hylian. Simon made a face, but was too exhausted to argue.

Ignoring his own strange twinges that represented pain, Link followed them, not sure if he was happy to never have needed to rely on someone like that or disappointed no one was ever there to carry him. 

Approaching the door Link slowed, allowing the two players to try the way out. A small gift, but one Simon took advantage of, not even hesitating before trying it. Duran let out a breath of relief as the door opened and showed the outside world. 

“Memorable, but I’m grateful it finished without death,” Simon said as Duran carefully maneuvered them out the door. He nodded to Link, then nudged Duran who had stopped outside the door. “I’m thinking that healer’s stall upkept by the Elite Guild, it’s outside West entrance, right?”

“East,” Duran corrected, but didn’t move further away from the temple to allow the transfer. 

Link paused, having planned to walk far enough out to transfer directly to Darin’s shop again. He raised an eyebrow, asking silently if something was wrong.

The Goron looked conflicted, then determined. “First, thank you. All joking aside,” and there had been more than a couple light hearted statements meant to keep them moving inside the temple, “your fast response meant a lot to us. And secondly,” Duran took a slow breath, gathering the words carefully, “I’m not sure if you need to write a report on this, but when we first started the temple the monsters were normal. Difficult, but not unexpectedly so. I don’t know when it switched, but whatever went wrong was while we were in the temple.” 

Link accepted the statement at face value, not willing to argue the complexity of coding and why that might not be as true as Duran thought. “It’ll go into my report, thank you for notifying me.” Another stock reply, but one he planned to follow through on.

Duran gave Link his own nod of respect and thanks, then turned and carefully walked them out of range. Watching them leave, Link gave a soft smile. The two really had held up admirably in the temple. Remembering the comment about the Elites, Link pulled up their game profiles and made sure to leave a personal comment on both their pages. It didn’t really mean anything, but Link wasn’t unaware of his own reputation. Whether they wanted it or not, they’d likely have gamers involved in the temple running bothering them about how it was to fight beside the great Link. It was the only recognition he could give the two.

Rather than directly transferring, Duran’s comment had Link summoning Epona, his horse, instead. The temple was fairly close to town and wouldn’t take long to ride in, giving Link the time to write up both reports and just take in everything that had happened today. A little more hectic a day than he preferred, and he still wasn’t sure what to think about the meeting with Princess Zelda. It was a topic he shied away from, feelings of inadequacy and embarrassment stirred up by it. The Princess had a very strong presence and it wasn’t one Link was used to interacting with; he only really interacted with gamers who often turned to humor to lighten the atmosphere.

Trying to push away the negative emotions, Link spurred on Epona and lost himself in the sensations of the game for the rest of the ride as he wrote the required report. The sun’s rays as they neared the horizon. The wind ruffling his hair. The call from birds and trees whistling. The strong of Epona as she galloped.

Slowing to a stop outside the city’s gate, Link dismounted and patted Epona on the shoulder before dismissing her. It took only a second and then he transferred directly to Darin’s shop, not wanting to deal with the markets this late in the day. He gave a sheepish smile to a very tired looking Darin who jumped to awareness at his sudden arrival.

“Not sure where all the hours went,” Link admitted, glancing out the window at the darkening sky. “I hope you didn’t keep the shop closed the entire time.”

“I had some business stuff to take care of,” Darin said, dismissing the concern. “Are the players okay? My brother knows some people they could talk to if needed. Actually, I should prop-“

“Darin, Darin, it’s fine,” Link spoke over the Hylian shopkeeper, trying to calm him. “We had to finish clearing the temple, but they both survived and should be fine. A nasty leg injury but-“

This time, Darin cut him off, “Should I call Mehado in to heal them? He shouldn’t be too busy, it would do him good actually.”

Link couldn’t help it, he laughed. Stressful day and a ride full of worried thoughts and the release was wonderful. “They transferred to the Healer’s Stall, the one by the East Entrance. Probably already good as new, so there’s no reason to call your brother.”

Darin’s nose twitched in distaste, “The one run by the Elite’s?”

Link didn’t bother to reply to the age old rivalry contained in that statement, coming forward to lean against the counter instead, “Do you have a chair back there I could borrow for a bit? It’s been a long day.”

“Only if you promise to stay until you finish explaining this time,” Darin muttered as he disappeared into the back, returning a moment later with a chair he waved Link to. 

Link took it gratefully. It would have been nice if the AI hadn't been so thorough in Link's own design to copycat players. He could do without the enforced need to sleep, though according to the Great Deku tree that was simply the system getting overloaded and needing time to sort through all the recorded data. A flaw they hoped to weed out in future Links. "You'll have to remind me where I left off this morning. I barely remember stopping in here."

Darin leaned against the counter, "Well, first you were talking about a cracked lantern and then you were summoned by Princess Zelda wherein she wanted a direct report from you. _Then_ , you were summoned to save a couple gamers stuck in over their heads." Waving his arms wide, Darin encouraged a response, "Feel free to fill in any of that. Oh! And if you were wondering, no one from the Adventurer's Guild has ever heard of background items cracking like your lantern did. A sword, yes, but lantern? Never."

"It sounds like a lot, but honestly…" Link shrugged, not sure, with everything said and done, what to really say about todays events. He was still struggling to process it himself.

"Perhaps we should fill your items in the meanwhile?" Darin said, crossing his arms and clearly making no move.

Moving to stand, Link withheld a smirk as Darin sighed and waved him back down, heading over to the corner counter himself. Link took the time to pull together what he wanted to say. "Well, I still have nothing further on the lantern, Princess Zelda was rather intimidating and didn't really tell me anything, and the two players encountered a bugged temple and actually handled themselves rather well. Impressive actually. Anything else?"

"Just take the items," Darin grumbled, handing over a nicely bundled bag of items. Upon Link's touch, it disappeared from the game and was counted in his inventory, allowing Link to relax in a way he hadn't all week. Having a full inventory was safety in a way townies couldn't understand. 

Eye sharp on Link, noting the release of tension from shoulders, Darin gave an innocent smile, "Actually, I just remembered, Mahado and Shara should be here any minute for dinner. Would you like to stay and catch up with friends?"

"You were planning to ambush me?" Link questioned, words prickly but relishing in the content feeling he got from the news. 

"Considering how the day has gone so far, I figured having a healer on hand and someone strong enough to hold you down couldn't hurt," Darin said unrepentantly. He had retaken his place leaning against the counters, hands casually bracing him to either side. Link took a minute to take in his friend. The simple, if high quality outfit. The wrinkles and untucked undershirt peaking out from underneath the carefully buttoned vest. The unruly blond hair and hint of bags under blue eyes.

Perhaps having dinner with friends wouldn't hurt, the reports he planned to slog through could wait until the morning. "It depends on how long it takes them to arrive," Link teased lightly, knowing the second he seemed willing a high priority message would be sent from Darin for his brother. And sure enough, Link watched Darin's eyes unfocus, staring intensely off over Link's left shoulder for a couple seconds before a smug smirk showed Darin's returned attention.

"I'm betting it won't be long now," Darin tried to say indifferently. He shuffled a little in place, failing to keep a smirk off his face.

A knock sounded from the front door.

“You are terrible,” Link said, rolling his eyes and a smile on his own face.

“Yeah, yeah,” Darin waved it all away as he went to open the door, letting in a Sheikah and Gerudo.

The Sheikah was his twin brother, Mehado, and carried the classic traits of the Sheikah with his red eyes and silver hair long enough to be kept in a braid. The only similarity between the brothers was their ridiculous fondness of wide belt sashes. Currently, he was wearing a bright green and blue one that looked at odd with his grey, form tight outfit. Mehado opened his arms wide with a call of “Brother!” and wrapped Darin in a tight hug. 

Sidestepping them, Shara’s golden eyes narrowed in on Link, still sitting in his chair by the counter. Her chosen outfit likely reflected what they were called away from, the light leather armor flexible enough for practicing and a simple meal. Cutting off whatever she planned to say, Link stood and gestured towards her short cropped maroon hair, “New hairstyle?”

“Not that new,” Shara said, a hand went up and ruffled it a little. “Got tired of it coming out of its tie, figured a change wouldn’t hurt. Which,” her voice turned cutting, “you would know if you bothered to ever visit.”

Link smiled, “Work, you know?” And they did. For all the grumpy acts after long abstences, they did know and would let it go soon enough. Rather than being hurt and annoyed, Link always thrived under the mild attacks. They cared enough to be hurt he hadn’t seen them.

And like that, Shara let it go, “Always work,” She waved her hand as if to wipe it all away, and looked over her shoulder at the two brothers. “Are we planning to eat anytime soon?”

The two brothers turned, making an odd sight together with Mehado half a head taller and the complete lack of similar features. It was rare for anyone to keep genetic relations in game, as once sorted into their race, they were schooled in race specific settings and tended to form families during such. The twins never explained why they held onto each other, and Link never pried as much as he might have wished. It seemed too personal.

“Oh, you know, just catching up with each other,” Mehado said gamely, relaxed.

Shara shot a look over to Link, “We all had lunch together just yesterday. This is what happens when you leave us alone, they get all weird.”

“And there’s the hint to get a move on,” Darin said loudly, walking past and leading the way to the back and his living quarters.

“Me asking to eat wasn’t the hint?” Shara complained, following at Darin’s heels.

Link watched the scene with amusement, and looked up at Mehado, a little less than a head taller than him, when he stopped beside him.

“We’ve missed you Link,” Mehado said easily, putting an arm around Link’s shoulders and directing them towards the back. “Try and remember to save a bit of time for us every now and then.”

“I do try,” Link admitted, “Just the past couple of months have been much busier than anticipated or even wanted. There’s been… problems.” It was as close as he was going to get to the topic tonight.

Mehado picked up on his relunctance and shrugged, “Then we’ll make the most of the present then.”

The meal was warm and light hearted, helping to unwind Link in ways he hadn’t realized he needed. He missed his friends, in a way that made him think sometimes that the Great Deku Tree and the AIs had spent a little too much time writing his code. 

The meal slowly wound down, and Link was considering excusing himself, when Shara leaned forward and directed a question to Darin, “So, ever planning to get back into the field?”

It was an unexpected question. No one had ever asked Darin why he pulled back from the temples. It had been a gradual process, and it was clear he rather more enjoyed the trading side. Darin, rather than being offended, gave the question a bit of thought, “I had thought about it, to be honest. But when? Between the shop, identification, and acting as a mentor for new fighters, who has the time?”

“You mentor new fighters?” Link asked, being the first he heard of such.

Darin blushed, but his lips quirked up a bit, “Well, I got a lot of townsies who were interested, but didn’t know how to get into to it and so I would, you know, push them a little. Help set them up with others interested, give them a couple easy temples to try it out on, listened when they came back all excited.”

“He also seems to think it perfectly alright to call me whenever one of them comes back with a scratch,” Mehado dryly cut in. The Sheikah was an amazing healer, which wasn’t surprising when you considered he was part of the Adventurer’s Guild. They didn’t just run the temples, they deliberately sought out the hardest and oldest temples.

“You’ve only yourself to blame,” Shara pointed out, “You’re the one who answers when he calls.” In comparison, Shara was a fighter that focused on fast, hard hits. She had a couple spells for backup, but with a partner in Mehado she rarely needed them.

Link stood, stretching a little and holding back a yawn. “Well, far be it from me to get in the middle of this. I think it’s time to go.”

This led to a round of goodbyes and hugs, which Link melted into each one gratefully. Shara went last with a fast hard one, as was her wont, and pulled back to say, “If you’ve the time, you should stop by the Adventurer’s Guild tomorrow. We’ve got a new member I think you’d like to meet.”

Interest raised, Link nodded, “I’ll see what I can do.” It’d also give him a chance to inquire about bugs and issues they’ve run into.

Shara nodded and patted his shoulder, finally letting him go. As they returned to the table, Link headed back through the shop and out into the empty market. Here or there a night shop had its lights on and as Link passed, he could hear the happy chatter drifting out. A brisk wind stole away the warmth, and the easy meal he had just shared already felt like a fading memory. He wished he could ignore the sinking feeling, present ever since finishing the temple with Simon and Duran, but it was impossible to do so. Something big was on the way, and he wanted to be a part of stopping it. He had to be a part of it. No one else, except maybe Zelda, even seemed aware something was coming.

His resolve, rather than make the night bleaker, seemed to make it brighter. His steps rang with a confindent tone, rather than slinking along, as he headed back towards the center of town and the tree. 

Something was coming, but he was going to stop it.


End file.
